Bathing suit



J. PEREZ BATHING SUIT Oct. 7, 1941.

Filed Dec. 51, 1940 INVENTOR.

JOSEPH PEREZ l f f//Z/ ATTOR N EY Patented Oct. 7, 1941 Application December 31, 1940, Serial No. 372,511

l Claim.

This invention yrelates to bathing suits, and particularly to the type of bathing suit that may be removed while the wearer is partially dressed in street apparel.

At many bathing beaches, particularly those near metropolitan areas, bathhouse facilities are y frequently overburdened during warm spells. As

a result, those desiring toy change to and from their bathing apparel are delayed, or inconvenienced due to `overcrowding. To avoid this situation, many persons don their bathing suits at home, and wear their street apparel over their suits until they reach the beach. Upon arrival at the beach the street apparel is taken off, and the wearer is ready for a swim without having exposed himself indecently. Although this procedure eliminates the delay incident to the use of a bathhouse. the wearer is obliged to endure the discomfort and inconvenience of returning home with a wet or damp bathing suit under his street clothes.

In order to overcome the latter diiiiculty, I have devised an improved form of bathing suit so constructed and arranged that it may readily and conveniently be removed after a swim without indecently exposing the wearer. Essentially, my invention comprises a single piece of material, which, when wrapped around the waist, may be fastened down one side by means of a slide fastener, and which is provided with pendant tabs, extending from the front and rear body covering portions, that are arranged to pass through the crotch of the wearer and fasten respectively to the rear and front body covering portions of the material to form a garment that completely covers the lower portion of the trunk of the wearer. By means of this arrangement it is possible, as hereinafter described, to remove the garment after the wearer has donned enough of his street apparel to keep him decently covered.

The principal object of my invention is to improve the construction and arrangement of bathing suits whereby a bather may remove his suit while partially dressed in street clothes, and, during the procedure, avoid public display of his person.

Another object of my invention is to improve the construction of the crotch portion of a bath-l ing suit in such manner as to obviate the need for an athletic supporter.

Another object of my invention is to so imit may be adjusted to compensate for stretching or shrinking of the material.

The several objects of the invention are attained by the means describedin the following specification, and shown in the appended drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan or developed view of the bathing suit in the position it occupies when spread out on a flat surface with the inner side down. showing the side fasteners and crotch pieces disconnected;

Fig. 2is a front view of the bathing suit, show# ing the side fasteners and rear crotch piece connected as they would be when in use;

Fig. 3 is a rear view of the bathing suit, showing the side fasteners and front crotch piece connected as they would be when in use; and

Fig. 4 is a view of the underside of the bathing suit, showing the front and rear crotch pieces overlapped and interconnected as when in use.

In the preferred form of the invention shown in the drawing, a suitable piece of material I0 (Fig. 1) is formed to provide a front body covering portion I I and a. rear body covering portion I2. The covering portions II and I2 are arranged to wrap around the body of the wearer and cover the waist, hips, abdomen and buttocks. 'I'he portions II and I2 are provided respectively with mating halves of a slide fastener, I3 and I4, which may be locked by means of a slide fastener lock I5, thereby forming a closed seam down the right side of the garment. A belt Il passes through suitable'loops at the top of the garment to hold it snugly against the body of the wearer, and also serves as a stop to prevent inadvertent opening of the slide fastener while the garment is being worn, (as indicated in Fig. 2).

It will be noted that any suitable slide, snap, or hook fastener maybe used to close the side of the garment without departing from the invention. The type illustrated is preferred since it has proved most practical. However, inasmuch as this type of fastener is well known, and, further, since it is not claimed by itself, it is not described herein in detail.

Formed as an integral part of the rear covering portion I2 vis a pendant tab I'I (see Fig, 1)

.that is adapted to pass through and cover the crotch of the wearer, and is provided with a buttonhole I8 arranged to engage with a button prove the construction of a bathing suit that I9 attached 'to the outer side of front covering portion II, as in Fig. 2. In a similar manner, a pendant bifurcated tab 20 is integral with front covering portion II, and is provided with a buttonhole 22 in each of its extremities 2 I. The tab 20 is also adapted to pass through and cover the crotch of the wearer, inside the pocket formed by tab I1. The extremities 2I are arranged slightly beyond the crotch covering portion of tab 20 and are adapted to pass through slits 23 formed in tab I1, whereby buttonholes 22 may be engaged with buttons 24 attached to the outer side' of rear covering portion I2, as in Fig. 3. By means of the overlapping and interlocking action of tabs I1 and 20 and their associated elements. (as shown in Fig. 4) it is apparent that they are effective completely to cover and firmly to hold the crotch portion of the wearer, and thereby obviate the need for the usual athletic supporter.

It is obvious upon inspection that the slits 23 may be eliminated if either the button I9 or the buttons 24 are. placed on the inside of their respective covering portion, and the associated tab is buttoned inside the suit; However, it has been found by trial that the buttons are appreciably more accessible, and the suit more readily removable, when the buttons are attached to the outer side of the covering portions.

It is also obvious that the buttons and buttonholes may be replaced by snap or hook fasteners. However, for the purposes indicated, buttons have been found to be the most practical type of fastening.

When the suit is to be put on, it has been found more convenient first, to complete the buttoning and fastening operations described above, then to step into the suit, as with ordinary bathing trunks. The belt I6 may then be buckled.

To remove the suit after a swim, the wearer must first unbuckle belt I6 and detach buttons 24 from buttonholes 22. At this stage of the proceedings, the elasticity of the body covering ma- Kterial is sufficient to hold the suit snugly to the body, and, since button I9 remains engaged with buttonhole I8, the crotch covering portion is held in place even though extremities 2| of tab 20 may dangle. Thus, the wearer remains decently covered, and may now put on his slacks or trousers. When the trousers are completely in place and secured, the wearer may readily disengage button I9 from buttonhole I8 by manipulation through the front pocket of his trousers. The crotch portion of the suit is thereby disengaged, and the suit may be pulled up from the trousers sufficiently to expose the slide fastener. When the slide fastener is disengaged, the suit is entirely free of the body and may readily be removed. Thus, by means of the above described arrangement and procedure, a bather may simply and easily rid himself of the inconvenience and discomfort of a wet bathing suit while remaining on the beach, and, throughout the entire operation, avoid public display of his person.

In the event circumstances require that the suit be put on in a similar situation, the construction of the suit will permit this undertaking also, with a. little practice, simply by reversing the above described procedure.

In addition to the above described advantages obtained by my novel construction. my arrangement also provides means whereby a substantial amount of adjustment may be made in the size of a bathing suit. To this end, the buttons I8 and 24 may be raised or lowered, as desired, to oset the stretching or shrinking that invariably occurs in a bathing suit, according to the type of mate rial used in its manufacture. In addition, aithough I am not familiar with manufacturing practices, it would seem that this feature would tend to decrease the number of different sizes of a given model that would be required, since, by a slight adjustment in the buttons, a single manufactured size could be used for either of two stock sizes, without noticeable difference in outward appearance.

Although the description thus far has dealt with the application of my invention to bathing suits for men, it is apparent that the same principles may be applied to bathing suits for women. For example, the front body covering portion II, as shown in the drawings, may be provided with an upwardly extending, breast covering portion having a neck encircling strap connected thereto by buttons or snap fasteners which could be readily unfastened by the wearer when covered by a jacket or beach pajamas, In this case, the lower trunk covering portion would be removed as described above. Or, the above described trunks, with slight changes in style, could be used in conjunction with a halter.

Whereas, I have described what I believe to be a highly desirable embodiment of my invention, it is obvious that many changes in form, in addition to those pointed out above, may be made without departing therefrom. Therefore, I propose to be limited in the scope of my invention only to the extent set forth in the appended claim.

Having described my invention, I claim:

A bathing suit of the type that may be removed when the wearer is partially dressed in street clothes, comprising the combination of a unitary body encircling strip including a front body covering portion and a. rear body covering portion, fastening means to connect the free ends of the body covering portions to form a closure at the side of the wearer, a pendant tab integral with the rear body covering portion, said tab being of suilicient width to cover the crotch of the wearer, means to connect the free end of said tab tothe outer side of the front body covering portion to form a crotch covering portion, a pendant tab integral with the front body covering portion, said tab also being of suilicient width to cover the crotch of the wearer and having bifurcated ends beyond its crotch covering portion, a pair of spaced slits in the rear body covering portion adapted to receive the bifurcated ends of the last recited tab to permit interlacing of the front and rear tabs, and means to fasten said bifurcated ends to the outer side of the rear body covering portion.

JOSEPH PEREZ. 

